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IAAF Council Meeting, Dakar, 14 April – NOTES

– Read on for English and French language versions of this story– La traduction française suit le texte anglais

The IAAF Council is meeting in Dakar, Senegal, for the third time in its history, with IAAF President Lamine Diack taking the opportunity to say farewell to his fellow Council Members in his home city on Monday (14).

"It is a source of great pride and satisfaction for me to be able to welcome my colleagues from the Council to Dakar for the last time, because the next few editions are set for Monaco and Beijing, and I will then step down as President in August 2015," said President Diack.

"I have known some of my Council friends since 1976 when I first arrived at the IAAF Council, as Senior Vice President, and others more recently, but I wanted to say a sincere thank you to them all for the hard work, sacrifice and dedication they show on a daily basis in service of the sport of athletics.

"For this reason, I am very happy that the President of the Republic of Senegal has granted Nawal El Moutawakel with the medal of Commander of the National Order of the Lion, and will also welcome eight other senior members of Council to the Palace to receive National Orders tomorrow.

"This demonstrates the deep respect and affection held for the sport of athletics by my government," he added.

The Council were welcomed at the Opening on 14 April by the Minister of Sport for Senegal, Mbagnick Ndiaye, who is also a member of the Council of the International Fencing Federation, and by the President of the Athletics Federation, Momar Mbaye as well as numerous dignitaries from the world of Senegalese politics and sport.

After paying a moving tribute to the achievements of Lamine Diack as a sportsman, sports official and politician who had become one of Senegal’s most famous sons, Ndiaye wished the IAAF Council members a fruitful meeting.

Council approves Innovative Timetable for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing

Jose Maria Odriozola, IAAF Council Member and Technical Delegate for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, said: “After a rigorous process of reflection, consultation and discussion, we are really happy to present a timetable for Beijing 2015 which I believe helps us to deliver an exciting product for all key stakeholders including TV, sponsors and media so as to concentrate the most dramatic action of finals into evening sessions of approximately 3 hours duration.

"Nonetheless, although we are keen to make this event as exciting as possible, we have always given the first priority to the athletes when planning the timetable. We want them to be able to perform under optimum conditions."

Beijing 2015 Timetable Approval Process:

· Feedback received from Council members following Moscow 2013 · Meeting with Beijing LOC to discuss sessions and start times – September 2013 · Initial draft developed by Beijing 2015 Technical Delegates and sent to stakeholders – January 2014 · Draft discussed with members of the WAS Renovation Steering Group · Draft discussed with Competitions Commission and feedback received at meeting · Draft shared with Chairman of IAAF Medical & Anti-Doping Commission (Beijing 2015 Medical Delegate) · Meeting with all Stakeholders (Technical Delegates, LOC, Host Broadcaster, Television Partners, Marketing Partners) to discuss concerns, questions and proposals – 7 February 2014 · Amended draft circulated to all Stakeholders · Final timetable proposal approved by Council in principle allowing for future minor adjustments

The timetable is available to view or download as a Related Document alongside this story.

Council also approved Entry Standards for the 10,000m, marathons, race walking and combined events as follows.

Notes: · The Qualifying period for these events began on 1 January 2014 · The Qualifying period for all other events begins on 1 October 2014 · Entry Standards for all other events to be approved in November 2014

With regard to the 2014 Calendar it was noted that the World Challenge Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme is changing venue from Rabat to Marrakech.

It is recommended to the Council to approve in principle the addition of Trail Running in the Definition of ‘Athletics’ in Article 2 of the IAAF Constitution and in the Competition Rules; these proposals would then be submitted to the 50th IAAF Congress in Beijing, China for ratification and the amended Definitions in both the Constitution and the Rules would come into force on 1st November 2015.

Council approved the timetable of the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Guiyang, China – 28 March 2015